FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth

“…curiously uninvolving…”

The 3D gimmick has been kicking around for the better part of fifty years, and what was once calculated marketing seems to be developing into something of a viable creative tool for many filmmakers. Anticipating the 2010 release of James Cameron's 3D science fiction epic Avatar, studios are priming cinemagoers in what will no doubt evolve into a box office free-for-all as they push the technology further to take advantage of its one major selling point: 3D can't be pirated (yet).

So while we wait for this apparent shift in "event movie" film going, we are presented with middle-of-the-road fare like Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, in which Professor Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser) goes in search of his missing brother and discovers an underground realm that proves that Jules Verne's classic novel was actually based on fact. Fraser takes his young nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) and beautiful scientist Hannah Asgierson (Anita Briem) along for the ride, and in the process we get various 3D CGI set pieces (including a rather dubious rip-off of Temple Of Doom's underground mine rail chase) and assorted scenes where things are flung, poked and prodded into the camera lens.

So the film does exactly what it says on the tin, whilst being firmly family-friendly in its non-offensiveness. Still, it's all curiously uninvolving, and it's only Fraser's goofy grin and slapstick physicality that hold any character interest whatsoever. It all starts to eventually feel like a 3D theme park ride in the way that it lacks anything resembling a gripping narrative. All that aside, however, the effects are great, the 3D is pretty damn cool, and anything with a 3D T-Rex knocking about the place means that the kids are bound to love it.

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Adrian Wootton is returning to the Melbourne International Film Festival for another series of his acclaimed film talks, and this year he’s focusing on four legends from the Hollywood Golden Age. Come get educated!